boóng
Definition
- Verb:
- To freeload, to sponge off someone: To eat, drink, or use something at another person's expense without offering to pay or contribute. This usage is informal and often carries a slightly vulgar or critical connotation.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Anh ấy suốt ngày đi boóng bạn bè. (He's always sponging off his friends.)
- Đừng có tính chuyện boóng đồ ăn của người khác. (Don't think about freeloading other people's food.)
Advanced Usage
- The word "boóng" is inherently informal and is typically used in casual, colloquial speech. It often implies a lack of reciprocity or a habit of taking advantage of others' generosity.
Variants and Related Words
- Ăn boóng (Verb Phrase): To eat a meal at someone else's expense; to scrounge a meal.
- Hắn chuyên đi ăn boóng hàng xóm. (He specializes in scrounging meals from the neighbors.)
- Uống boóng (Verb Phrase): To drink (often alcohol) at someone else's expense.
- Cả bàn bia tối qua là nó uống boóng đấy. (He drank all the beer at the table last night on someone else's tab.)
Synonyms
- Ăn bám: To live off someone; to be a dependent (can imply a more permanent or serious state than "boóng").
- Ăn chực: To loiter for food; to scrounge (similar in meaning, perhaps slightly less vulgar).
- Hưởng ké: To enjoy something as a free rider; to benefit from something without contributing.
Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)
- Đi boóng: To go out with the intention of freeloading.
- Nó lại đi boóng với đám bạn cũ. (He went out freeloading with his old group of friends again.)
Related Idioms
- While "boóng" itself is a standalone verb, it is frequently used in the fixed phrase "ăn boóng" as described above, which functions idiomatically to mean scrounging a meal.